


summerboy

by scatteringmyashes



Series: feels like summer [3]
Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Percy Jackson Fusion, Bad Parenting, Felix Week (Fire Emblem), Fluff, M/M, Miscommunication, Mutual Pining, Trans Felix Hugo Fraldarius
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-25
Updated: 2020-02-25
Packaged: 2021-02-28 03:34:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,341
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22887151
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scatteringmyashes/pseuds/scatteringmyashes
Summary: Camp Half-Blood's most important tradition isn't the quests or the sacrifices to the gods. It's Capture the Flag, and honor goes to the victors. Felix is determined to keep winning, but between the goddess of love and his own friends, it might not be that easy.****For Felix Week: Supernatural/Fantasy AU
Relationships: Felix Hugo Fraldarius/Sylvain Jose Gautier, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Series: feels like summer [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1646359
Comments: 24
Kudos: 198
Collections: Felix Birthday Week 2020





	summerboy

**Author's Note:**

> This was a ton of fun to write and I certainly will revisit this universe sometime in the future. I really, really, really love PJO and it's been a blast designing this. 
> 
> Thank you to Evie for helping me beta!
> 
> Enjoy~

"Felix!" Ingrid shouted at him from across the training yard. He paused in his sword forms, looking over at where his friend jogged over. Her Camp Half-Blood T-Shirt had the sleeves rolled up and was in a French tuck in her shorts — clearly Dorothea was influencing her in more than one way. Not like Felix had anything to say about it. "Do you have a moment?" 

He grunted, lowering his sword. He kicked at the ground, a bit of sand blowing in the air. Ingrid took it as consent and continued, leaning against the wood fence that marked off the training area. 

"Has Cabin Five picked a side for Capture the Flag?" She asked. 

"Have you?" Felix replied. Ingrid nodded and before she could say — "Zeus and Athena, right?" 

Ingrid didn't even look abashed. "We might as well pick the winning side. And they approached us first." 

"You don't know who I'm going to pick," Felix reminded her. Ingrid rolled her eyes. "Cabin Five is undecided. If Dimitri or his sister wants, they can ask me." 

"What, are you going to join Hermes and Apollo?" Ingrid challenged with a raised eyebrow. 

"If they ask, I'll consider it." Felix raised his sword again. "Did you have anything important to tell me?" 

"Yes!" Ingrid smirked. "Have you figured out who you're watching the fireworks with?" 

Felix found himself surprised. He covered it with a scowl. He went back to his sword forms, making the straw dummy spill its guts all over the ground. He could go through a dozen dummies in an afternoon, had on multiple occasions. Fuck his father, but at least Felix had a nice, semi-cursed sword out of the deal. 

He stuck his sword in the dummy. It made a sad hiss as some straw fell out. 

"Have you asked Dorothea yet?" He countered. 

Ingrid blushed and not from the heat. "That — That's not the point!" She huffed, crossing her arms. "We're just friends. Just like you're only friends with Sylvain." 

"Exactly," Felix said, even though the entire camp was just waiting for Ingrid and Dorothea to make it official. "Tell Dimitri that he can ask me to join his team himself. Or his sister — I don't care who. But I'm not going to ask him like I need him." 

"And what if no one from the Blue or Red Team asks you? Would you really have the entire Ares Cabin sit out because of your pride?" 

"Yes." And really, that should not be a shock to anyone who knew Felix during a single day out of the last four years he had been attending Camp Half-Blood. Though… "Tell Dimitri that I won't join if he invites Cabin Ten." 

Ingrid snorted. "They never compete anyways, but sure. I'll tell him, since you're apparently incapable of communication." 

She looked away. Not a moment passed when her smirk returned with a vengeance. Felix followed her gaze. A familiar redhead was coming from the strawberry fields, chatting animatedly with Dedue. Between the two of them, there were baskets and baskets of strawberries in their arms. Sylvain — and of course the bastard managed to look great even though he was probably sitting in the fields all day without actually helping — laughed at something. Dedue looked mildly amused. 

He noticed Ingrid and Felix first, nodding to them. His arms were laden down so waving wasn't practical. Ingrid was a nice enough person that she walked over and took a basket from Dedue. 

"Thank you," he said. 

"Hey, not gonna help me?" Sylvain complained. 

"No." Ingrid smiled at Dedue, which was almost unnerving since Ingrid only ever smiled when she wanted something from you or you were giving her food. "Has Dimitri asked you about Capture the Flag yet?" 

"Yes." Dedue cleared his throat. If Felix squinted, he could just see a bit of a flush on his face. "Cabin Four will fight on the Blue Team." 

"Aw, man. Why does Blue Team get all of the fun cabins?" Sylvain complained. He grinned at Felix. Maybe it was the sun in his hair or the way he tilted his head, but Felix had to briefly remember how to breathe.

 _Fucking Aphrodite,_ Felix thought. _Screw her and all her children._

"Have you picked a team yet?" Sylvain asked him. Felix shook his head, not trusting himself to speak. 

Without a single change, Sylvain shrugged and went back to being a normal human being. At least, as normal as a demigod could get. Felix always had a bit of a faster heartbeat around him, but there wasn't a good way to check if that was the case for everyone or just Felix, the most unlucky demigod in camp. 

"Well, I think that we're going to be sitting this one out," Sylvain adjusted his grip on one of the baskets. "Hey, Fe, wanna help a guy out?" Sylvain acted like he was some waifish sap who needed a big strong swordsman to help out. It was hilarious because Sylvain was taller, beefier, and absolutely not weak by anyone's standards. Also, Felix would rather eat his sword than help Sylvain. 

The four of them headed back to the main part of camp. Despite Felix still itching to train more, his sword was at his side and a basket of strawberries was slung over one arm. He walked over to the underground kitchens, though he glared at anyone who gave him any funny looks. Ingrid and Dedue listened to Sylvain spin some talk about flirting with a harpy to get out of kitchen duty. It was only funny because it was absolutely not true — Sylvain had tried, certainly, only to get an extra week of dish duty for his efforts. 

Still, Sylvain had a way of making stories about his misery funny. Felix didn't look too far into it — everyone at camp had issues and if Sylvain wanted a therapist, he'd use all his modeling money and get one. For what it was worth, Felix did not laugh when he was supposed to and he did not give Sylvain the pleasure of knowing that Felix did, at least a little, find him funny. 

Felix had standards, after all. 

"Thank you for your help," Dedue said. "It's been a very fruitful season." 

"All thanks to you, De-dude. You're the best out there and your magic has gotten way stronger," Sylvain told him. 

"There has been a noticeable difference," Ingrid added. A moment passed. Felix shrugged. 

"If you think I pay attention to the strawberry harvest, you're fooling yourself." 

Dedue didn't seem too offended, he just nodded. "Well, thank you anyways. I'm going to wash up before I'm supposed to lead arts and crafts, but I'll see you all tonight?" He barely waited for affirmations before leaving the kitchen. 

"No snacks!" One of the kitchen harpies screeched at them, just now noticing that they had fulfilled their task and were now just standing in the middle of the room. "Go! Go!" 

"We're going — though, have I told you that your feathers look beautiful today?" Sylvain told her before Ingrid grabbed his wrist and pulled him from the building. 

The trio ended up outside. Judging by the sun, there was still quite a bit of free time for the older campers before the evening activity schedule began. While Camp Half-Blood was a true summer camp right down to the awkward campfires and canoeing, when you were at camp as long as Felix had been, Byleth tended to schedule more free time for you. 

Similarly, Sylvain spent a shockingly small amount of time with his siblings, though he seemed to get along with all of them more or less. He was the head counselor for the Aphrodite cabin, but from what Felix knew and observed it was a bit like being the king of a squabbling brood of chickens. They could certainly team up together if they had to, but they were perfectly content to stand alone and preen their feathers in peace. 

"So, Ingrid, what's my favorite daughter of Athena doing this afternoon?" Sylvain cradled the back of his head in the palms of his hands. He grinned. For a moment, Felix saw red. 

Felix hated that Sylvain could make the stupid camp orange T-Shirts sexy. What with his perfect jeans — he must have been in the dirt while helping Dedue, but now he was spotless — and mused hair and bright eyes, it was clear why Sylvain had been a model. It wasn't even like all of Aphrodite's kids were hot. Felix didn't usually give a hydra's ninth head about someone's physical appearance. He could recognize when, objectively, someone was attractive. He knew that there were certain qualities people looked for when finding a partner. It just didn't matter except, apparently, when it came to Sylvain Gautier. 

"I have plans to make," Ingrid said. "You boys have fun. Felix, I'll tell Dimitri what you said." With that, she turned and trudged towards the cabins. 

Sylvain aimed that blistering smile at Felix. His heart skipped a beat. 

"What about you? Wanna go skip rocks on the lake or something?" 

Felix wanted nothing more than to jump off the roof of the Big House. He counted to ten — a handy tip Byleth had ground into his head after the fifth fight had broken out within five days of him coming to camp, all those years ago — and then looked Sylvain in the eyes. 

"I would rather eat rocks." Felix meant to say something like "Why don't we practice fighting" or "Have I showed you my latest spear throw" but he never was accused of being able to articulate his feelings properly. He swallowed down his instant defensiveness, looking over towards the aforementioned lake. 

He could see Claude and a few other campers swimming around with some of the naiads. Flayn was just visible, her vibrant green hair bright around her in the water as she chased after Leonie. Felix wondered what meeting Seteth was in, for him to lose sight of his sister. 

"So, uh, I'll see you later then?" Sylvain laughed nervously. 

Felix froze. . He didn’t want to spend more time with Sylvain because that just led to bad things, but he also didn’t want to let Sylvain walk off. How long had it been since they hung out one-on-one? A while. Ever since…

“I didn’t say that you had to go,” Felix said. “I need to clean my sword, if you’re okay with that.” 

_I need to clean my sword? What in Zeus’s name are you thinking?_ Felix thought. He barely resisted the urge to bury his face in his hands. If Sylvain thought he was acting weird, he didn’t say. Without a care in the world, Sylvain slung an arm over Felix’s shoulders.

“Sounds good. Do you need to get anything from your cabin?” 

“Yeah, my stuff’s there.” Felix gestured vaguely towards the cabins in question. “I’ll meet you by Zeus’s Fist.” 

“I can walk to your cabin with you, you know. I’ll even get my spear so you can yell at me for not taking care of it.” Sylvain was smiling again. Not his usual one, which was all teeth and glitter and falsehood, but a smaller smile that made Felix feel like the ground beneath his feet was shaking. 

Felix nodded. He turned away, hoping that his blush was mistaken as a reaction to the heat. 

“Come on, then. I won’t wait for you.”

Sylvain’s laugh caught on the breeze.

#

Felix was eating dinner with his siblings — which really meant all of them fighting over the best servings of meat, yelling at each other, and threatening to gut one another with various sharp weapons — when Dimitri came over. He cleared his throat, trying to be heard over the din of both the Ares table and the rest of Camp’s chatter. 

That was Felix’s excuse when he ignored Dimitri the first and second time. Finally, Dimitri reached out and tapped felix on the shoulder. A sharp jolt of electricity made Felix jump in his seat. He glared at Dimitri, who didn’t look apologetic whatsoever. 

“Have you chosen a side for Capture the Flag?” Dimitri asked.

“No.” Felix narrowed his eyes at his brother, who decided that it was not a good idea to try to steal the jerky off of Felix’s plate. 

“Do you want to join the Blue Team?” Dimitri looked actually nervous about it, which was a bit flattering. The alternative was Red Team, which was Hermes and Apollo — both cabins that Felix, personally, had issues with. 

Admittedly, he had issues with all of the other cabins, including Dimitri’s, but he also liked winning. It was just smart to be on Zeus’s side. 

“Sure. But I won’t work on defense with Demeter’s kids,” Felix replied.

Dimitri snorted. “Uh-huh. That’s fine.” He looked over at Cabin Four’s table, which really just meant that he was staring at Dedue and not just because Dedue was the tallest of his siblings. Felix rolled his eyes, drawing Dimitri’s attention back. “We’re going to have a strategy meeting tomorrow after curfew.”

“Breaking rules? How bold.” Felix went back to his food. “Just tell me where you want me to go and what you want me to fight.” 

“Um, okay.” Dimitri scratched the back of his head. “Did you have anything…?”

Felix grabbed a drumstick and took the biggest bite he could manage. Dimitri got the hint and walked away. He didn’t go back to his table, though, instead stopping by Dedue. Felix looked away, glaring at his plate. He was _not_ going to be jealous over Dimitri of all people. Unfortunately, his huff wasn’t entirely overlooked as one of his brothers smirked at him. 

“If you say anything, I will personally make sure you have kitchen duty for the next week,” Felix threatened. 

He managed to get a whole three peaceful bites of food when Byleth stood and, almost instantly, the idle chatter ended. The head of Camp Half-Blood, Byleth managed to pass off as either the most mortal acting immortal or the most immortal passing mortal, depending on who one was talking to at any given time. They never had much of an expression and didn’t seem to know what emotions were for, but Felix also knew that they had every camper’s birthday, favorite foods, and Starbucks order memorized. 

Byleth looked over the dining pavilion. Next to them, Seteth had his hands folded on the table. He looked the picture of dignity. Flayn had sauce on her face and a half-eaten piece of fish in front of her. 

“Hello, Campers.” They didn’t shout, but somehow their voice carried through the air. “Tonight, like every other night, we have the campfire. Counselors will have marshmallows and chocolate for s'mores. Please try not to burn yourselves to death.” 

“Boring,” Claude shouted. A few other kids snickered. Byleth looked at him. Claude coughed. "Keep going, please." 

“Reminder that the first Capture the Flag match will be this Saturday. Blue Team is led by Cabin One. Red Team is led by Cabin Eleven. Please contact their head counselors if you wish to join their teams. All teams must be declared by Friday evening. Other than that… Seteth, am I forgetting something?” Byleth glanced at Seteth.

“Rock climbing,” Seteth not-whispered. 

“Ah, yes.” Byleth blinked at the campers. “Please be careful when you are utilizing the rock climbing wall. If you are crushed between the walls, your body may not be recoverable.” They forced a smile. It looked like a ghost was pulling their lips up and away from their teeth. "Have a good night, campers." They sat back down. Despite the fact that they had as much charisma as a pretty seashell, they still got a good amount of clapping. 

Once the final bites were consumed and the remaining dishes were cleared away by the cleaning harpies, the cabins all lined up with the head counselor at the front. Felix was the head of Cabin Five, so he only had to wait until a few other cabins were walking off before leading his siblings to the aforementioned campfire. 

No one had to sit with their siblings if they didn't want to, so Felix just waited and soon found himself surrounded by his friends. Because yes, despite his best efforts, he was surprisingly well-known at camp. 

Annette and Ashe chatted about a book she was reading, Mercedes was chatting with Dorothea, Ingrid chided Sylvain for flirting with the dryads again, and Dedue and Dimitri both failed to notice when their marshmallows were on fire because they were too busy looking into each other's eyes. 

_Gods,_ Felix thought, _they think no one knows they're dating._

“Back me up, Fe,” Sylvain said, aiming his puppy dog eyes at Felix, “I don’t even mean it half the time when I flirt. It’s just like breathing — like Ingrid over-thinking things or you fighting someone.” 

Felix scowled and resisted the urge to berate Sylvain, which really just proved his point. Instead, Felix looked at Ingrid and said, “I’ll pay you a drachma to put exploding glitter in Sylvain’s shampoo.”

Sylvain laughed. “You know that’ll only make me look even more fabulous, right?” He slung an arm over Felix’s shoulders, a move that would have most people in need of another arm. Felix bristled. “You used to like spending time with me,” Sylvain pointed out. 

“Yeah, and I used to have no standards,” Felix replied, because the truth was much worse. 

“Ouch.” Sylvain clutched dramatically at his chest. “How will I survive your scorn?” 

“The same way you survived Hilda’s,” Ingrid suggested. 

“Do you remember when Sylvain hit on Edelgard?” Mercedes, who was clearly paying more attention than she let on, asked. 

“That was once!” 

Hearing her name, Edelgard looked over. Seeing that his sister was glancing in his direction, Dimitri squinted at Sylvain. Dedue cleared his throat and reached for another marshmallow. 

“Did you need me?” Edelgard asked. Next to her, Ferdinand complained about being ignored. 

“No,” Felix told her, perhaps with more force than necessary. 

“Felix, do you want me to make you a s’more?” Annette interrupted. Felix shook his head. Annette stuck her bottom lip out. “But it’ll be good! You need more sweetness in your life.”

“Yeah, Felix,” Dimitri chimed in with an infuriatingly polite tone of voice, “I think that you should let your friend make you something nice.” 

“Fine!” Felix realized he had shouted when half the campfire looked at him. He crossed his arms, resolutely not nestling himself further in Sylvain’s embrace as the world’s most fucked-up defense mechanism. The gossipers could say what they wanted — Felix wasn’t deaf. Hades, half the time it was his own siblings telling him the most malicious ones in hopes of riling him up. 

The good thing about having all the angry kids in one cabin meant that they really could only fight one another. The bad thing was that they would fight each other and being siblings — or half-siblings if you wanted to get technical — meant it would just be even dirtier. 

He still ate the damn s’more when Annette handed it to him. It tasted fine, he guessed. No one said anything the rest of the night, though Felix did have to threaten to castrate his brother when they were all walking to the cabin. 

Just Ares things, really. 

#

Felix was on lake duty with Mercedes the next day. Lake duty was the formal title for “counselor who made sure no one drowned in the lake” and was almost as loathed as kitchen duty if you were Felix. He could swim, but he always felt awkward in his binder and swim shorts. He could glare at younger campers and intimidate them into behaving, but the smarter ones realized that he couldn’t swim for long and used that to their advantage. Mercedes was a saint, though, and absolutely had no issue smiling at someone and asking,

“Are you _sure_ you want to do that?” The flowers and shadows seemed to lean towards her, the birds fell silent, and Felix felt a shiver run up his spine.

“Uh — n-no, Mercedes! Sorry!” The camper in question stopped throwing seaweed at Felix. He huffed, flicking the last piece of it back into the lake.

“Punk,” Felix mumbled. He eyed Mercedes, who absolutely gave zero shits. “I had it handled.”

“Threatening to stab a twelve year old isn’t very heroic of you,” Mercedes replied. 

“He would have been fine.” Felix kicked his legs, water splashing over his knees. It was just hot enough that the chilly lake felt nice, but he didn’t fancy a swim. A bit of water soaked Mercedes’ towel. Felix mumbled an apology.

“That’s okay.” Mercedes smiled at him. “Can I ask you a question?” 

Felix shrugged. 

“What happened between you and Sylvain?" She didn't react when he sighed loudly, laying back against the wooden pier. It was hot enough that he felt his back burn after just a few seconds. "You two were very close last year, but you barely spend five minutes in his presence without looking like you're going to explode." 

"Didn't you hear, I'm a son of Ares. There's nothing we love more than a fight." Felix sneered. 

"You didn't fight with Sylvain last year." 

Felix looked at her. She laughed. 

"Well, not the way you are now." She frowned. "What changed?"

"Why did something have to change? Is it not enough that I woke up and realized that Sylvain is a bastard?" Felix replied. Mercedes didn't even blink. "I still consider him a friend, I just don't like all of the rumors and gossip."

"So you don't want people to think you like him. Is it because you're both guys…?" 

"No. We're descended from the Greeks. None of us are straight." Felix flexed his hand, glaring out over the lake. 

Most of the campers were just swimming, but a few bold ones were trying to race the naiads or catch sight of the hippocampi that supposedly lived in the lake. For once, Felix didn't even feel that angry. Oh, he was still _mad_ but that was his normal state of being. The flames just sat in his chest, simmering low and waited for fuel to ignite. 

But no, Felix didn't feel controlled by his anger. He just felt tired. 

"It's stupid," he confessed. And, before Mercedes could push — "I don't want to talk about it. And don't tell anyone I said anything. I know where you sleep." 

She pursed her lips but said nothing. She definitely didn't keep it to herself, though, because Annette slid up to Felix at the crafts hut later that day. Felix didn't like crafts, but when Byleth published the schedules and put him in the arts and crafts hut for an hour then he sat there and tried making pottery for an hour. 

It was supposed to be good for his anger or something. In reality, it just made him hate his ancestors for liking pots so much. 

"Hey, Felix!" Annette grinned at him. "Whatcha making?" 

He gestured at the lump in front of him. "It's a pot." 

"Cute." Annette propped her elbows on his table, placing her chin in her hands. "So we're gonna fight each other this Saturday." 

"I'll try not to make you regret it," Felix deadpanned. Annette slammed her hands on the table. 

"You're so mean! You won't go easy on me?" She frowned, sticking her bottom lip out. Felix snorted. Annette rolled her eyes. "This is why everyone thinks you're rude."

"You just called me mean," he pointed out. 

"But I didn't mean it," Annette argued. 

"Uh-huh." Felix wondered if the pot would stay in one piece if he put it in the kiln or if it would explode like the last three he tried making. "What do you want?" 

"Why do I need to want something?" Annette waved a hand in the air. "Is it so weird that I just want to say hi to my friend? You've been Mr. Grumpy this whole summer." She punctuated her words by poking Felix in the face. People had been challenged to duels for less. He just sighed. 

"I had a difficult fall," Felix relented. It was a mistake. 

"Do you want to talk about it? Is it about Sylvain? Is that why you two have been weird all summer?" Annette only stopped when Felix went to cover her mouth, eyes wide with panic. "Don't kill me, I'm too young to die!" 

"You've been spending too much time with Bernadetta," Felix grumbled, but he kept his hands to himself. "Don't go screaming about it to everyone, okay? I knew I shouldn't have mentioned it to Mercedes…" 

Annette nodded. "I won't, but seriously, Felix — if you want to talk to someone about it, you should. It hurts to see you throwing away one of your closest friends because of something that happened. Was it your dad?" She whispered the last part, like she was risking drawing the attention of the god of war with a bit of gossip. 

Felix snorted. "No. Neither one of my old men can do anything to bother me anymore," he replied. "I'm not going to tell you what happened, so you should stop guessing."

"Okay…" 

He got a blessed ten minutes of silence, which he spent trying to get a circular base for his pot rather than a square with uneven sides, before Annette opened her mouth again. 

"I'm just saying that we're worried about you. You've been acting weird, even for you." Annette frowned. "Do you not like us anymore?" 

"What? Why do you think that?" Felix raised an eyebrow. 

"You're just… really angry." 

"Do you think I'm angry right now?" 

"Well yeah, you're looking at me like I just broke your favorite sword." 

"If you broke my favorite sword, we wouldn't be standing here right now."

"Technically, we're sitting." Annette smiled, but it soon faded back to her concerned expression. "Is it because of something Sylvain did?"

"Why does it have to be about Sylvain? Is it not enough for me to just not want to reassess my own boundaries?" It was a low blow, but it got the job done. Felix found himself spending the next ten minutes listening to Annette reassure him that boundaries were good and that his friends were there to support him. 

He never did finish his pot, but Annette made a cute plate with the bits of clay that he tossed aside, so he considered that victory enough. 

#

"The Aphrodite cabin is doing _what_ now?" Ingrid asked during the strategy meeting that Felix didn't want to attend, but had been dragged to by his own traitorous siblings. Something about "not wanting the good fights to be taken by Athena's kids" or "wanting to make sure everyone knew who would be bringing home the victory." As if that had ever been in question. 

"I got the confirmation today. Sylvain told me himself." Dimitri looked at the perfectly accurate diorama of the forest that Ingrid had brought. 

Right now, the plan was to put the flag on top of a rock collection known colloquially as Zeus's Fist. It looked like a fist if one squinted and happened to be at the right angle, but it would have been rude to call it Zeus's Deer Dropping Pile or Zeus's Collection Of Marbles. The strategy was simple enough. Demeter's kids would lead the defense alongside some of Athena's — combining mechanical traps and magical ones would make it difficult for anyone to sneak up on the flag and force them to commit head-on. Meanwhile, the Ares and Zeus cabins would be on the offense. Edelgard had also convinced a few of the minor cabins to join to help round out their numbers. 

It wasn't a huge deal power-wise if Aphrodite's kids threw in with the Apollo-Hermes alliance. That group also had Hephaestus and the rest of the minor cabins. And now, apparently, the one cabin that sat out of Capture the Flag every time — even Hypnos's kid, Linhardt, usually got dragged into participating due to his friendship with Caspar. 

No, what concerned Felix was that Sylvain and Claude must have some big picture idea. The biggest joke that Sylvain ever pulled off, Felix knew, was the fact that he convinced everyone he was a dumbass. 

"What will they even be able to do?" Hubert scoffed. "We do not need to worry about a bunch of make-up obsessed models who won't even want to fight. Do any of them even know the right way to lift a sword?" 

"I agree that it is unusual, but that only makes me more suspicious." Edelgard tapped her bottom lip. "We will have to assume that they have something planned." 

"Don't worry, they won't be able to do much with our traps and Dedue's magic." Ingrid gestured to the diorama. "We'll have my cabin lead the primary charge with Dimitri. Edelgard and a few of Ares's kids will flank from the south." 

With a wave of her hand, the little wooden markers sprung to life. Each had the symbol of a god painted on, symbolizing which cabin they represented. It was clever, but Felix didn't care much for the fine details. 

"All I need to know is where I'm going and who you want me to fight," Felix said. 

Ingrid rolled her eyes. "I'm getting there. Be more patient."

"No." 

"Then suffer."

"I am!"

"Please," Edelgard interrupted, "Can we focus before the harpies hear your complaining?" Silence. Then Dedue pointed to a spot on the diorama.

"This will be a good place to set up on ambush. There is an incline between the river and the trees. If we can lead members of the Red Team there, then my siblings and I can trap them," he said. Dimitri beamed so bright that Felix was certain that the Apollo kids were going to think the sun was rising and wake up. 

"That sounds excellent," Dimitri replied. 

Felix gagged. Dedue glared at him. 

"Do you have a problem, Felix?" Dedue wondered. 

"Yeah, maybe I do," Felix replied, crossing his arms. He had to look up at Dedue, which was absolutely unfair. How did anyone related to Demeter, the goddess of fucking cereal, get to be that tall? "What are you going to do about it?" 

"Internalized homophobia is not my problem to fix." Dedue glanced at the others, as if remembering where he was. "But that's a conversation for another date." 

Of course, Felix had never backed down from something if his life depended on it — especially not then. "I don't think you two are disgusting because you're into one another. I just don't want to see a caricature of happiness every time I look at you two." 

"And which of us is apparently pretending to be happy? Is it so hard to believe that people can find something to make them enjoy life? Not all of us are content to wallow in our misery like yourself.”

“Enough,” Edelgard said. “Whatever disagreements you have with one another, I don’t care. Can you two fight alongside one another, or is that going to be a problem?” 

Felix snorted. “I don’t do defense.”

“Yes, we know.” Ingrid sighed. “I think that we know what the plan is well enough. I’ll draw up a game plan and hand it out tomorrow.” 

“Agreed,” Dimitri replied. “Besides, if we’re up any later then we won’t have energy for tomorrow.” As if Dimitri had gotten a full night’s rest in his entire life. 

A few looks were exchanged between the cabin leaders, but Dimitri and Dedue were the first to leave — the group was meeting in the forest, as it was the only place the harpies didn’t regularly patrol at night. Of course, that was because it was full of dangerous monsters, but there wasn’t much that two children of Zeus, a son of Ares, and a daughter of Athena couldn’t fight.

Oh, and Dedue was useful too. 

Felix went to make his way back to his cabin when Ingrid stopped him, placing a hand on his shoulder. He glared at her.

“What do you want?” 

“You sure that you’re going to be okay?” Of all the questions, he didn’t expect that one. He raised an eyebrow. Ingrid let out another sigh. “Sylvain wouldn’t join the fight if he didn’t have a plan. He especially wouldn’t be able to convince his siblings to join if he didn’t have a _good_ plan.”

“I don’t care. He’s a lazy asshole who bleeds like everyone else.” Felix narrowed his eyes. “Why are you looking at me like that?” 

“You know you can be a real asshole sometimes.”

“Sometimes?” 

Ingrid rolled her eyes. “You weren’t always this edgy. When we first met—”

“I was a kid. Things change.” Felix frowned briefly. “I’m going to go to sleep. You should clean up your—” He gestured at the diorama— “Thing.” 

“Uh-huh. Good night, Felix. Don’t get eaten by a harpy.” Ingrid watched him go.

#

Because the gods didn’t have a single chill bone in their body — a curse that many of their children shared — Felix had a dream that night. He wished, to all Hades, that it was just a normal dream. But somewhere around running from a horde of generic and vaguely ominous monsters and getting in a fast but equally nondescript getaway car, Felix knew that this was no longer a normal dream — if it had been one at all. 

The backseat of the car was set up like a limo, complete with a metal bucket filled with ice and champagne. He sat facing forward, glaring at the woman across from him.

“Oh, you aren’t even going to let me say hello?” Aphrodite asked. She tilted her sunglasses — big, obnoxiously pink ones with orange tinted lenses — down so he could see her raise a perfectly styled eyebrow. Her nails were those long acrylic ones and Felix idly wondered if they would make good weapons. “You could make a lady self-conscious.”

“I doubt that anything I say would matter to you,” Felix replied. He could feel his own nature warring against Aphrodite’s aura. For every urge to smile and smirk and flirt, he had an equally strong conviction to stand up and throw himself out of the car in protest. 

Aphrodite giggled. Her long red hair tumbled over her shoulders, contrasting her skinny, strapless black dress. She had a completely effortless beauty, the kind where one knew that makeup was involved but it was so flawless that one couldn’t see it. That was the thing about Aphrodite, the thing her kids picked up. They were all unnaturally beautiful and Felix hated it. 

“Did you know that you look like your father when you glare like that?” Aphrodite lowered her voice. “I’m angry and I’m going to make sure everyone knows it.”

The only thing Felix hated more than talking to the gods was talking to his father. He did it as little as possible, which wasn’t hard when your father was Ares and he liked parenting even less than his mortal counterpart. 

There was a cruel irony in the fact that Felix had two fathers and neither of them wanted to be his dad. 

“What do you want?” Felix knew that one was supposed to be polite to gods, but he was fairly confident that part of Aphrodite’s interest in him was how little of her crap he took. If that ever changed, well, he would just get turned into a dove or something. There were worse fates. 

“You’ve been acting very aggressively recently,” Aphrodite said.

“I’m a son of Ares, unfortunately.” 

“He won’t be happy to hear that.” She made it sound like Ares was a studio director and Felix was the hired talent. 

“He can say it to my face.” 

Aphrodite laughed. “He might, someday, if you keep baiting him.” She waved a hand, the champagne floating out of the bucket. The cork popped out as two glasses appeared out of nowhere. “Do you drink?”

“No.” Felix watched as she poured two glasses anyways. 

“In the old country, you weren’t a man until you did.”

“Yeah, and women were treated like cattle. I’m good.”

Aphrodite took a sip of her dream champagne. Despite himself, Felix tried it. He didn’t have much to compare it to — a few New Year’s celebrations as a kid, back when Rodrigue still smiled — but it tasted fine. 

“Either tell me what your point is or let me go back to sleep. I’m not in a good mood,” Felix said.

“Are you ever?” Aphrodite sighed. “You’ve been hurting my son.”

Felix knew this was coming, but it didn’t make it any better. He rolled his eyes, swiping his fingers across the glass in his hands. A bit of moisture trailed across his skin. Aphrodite’s eyes drilled holes in him. 

“Look at me, son of Ares.”

For once, Felix didn’t have a snarky comment. He looked up at her, watched as she took her sunglasses off. Her eyes were a deep gold, bright and lined with black. 

“I don’t make people fall in love unless they disrespect me. Besides, your father would have a fit if I did that to you. Whatever your feelings towards love and me happen to be, they’re different than your feelings for Sylvain.” She put her glasses back on. When she drank from her glass, her lipstick left a perfect impression. “Really, I don’t know why I have such a bad reputation. It’s my son who goes around making people fall in love.”

“Yeah, because you’ve never messed with anyone’s head.”

This time, her smile reminded Felix of a snake. “Only people who deserve it.” 

“So you’d swear on the River Styx that you have nothing to do with — with—” And _gods_ was this embarrassing, the reality of his situation hitting him all at once. “Is it really so dull in Olympus that you feel the need to interfere like this? Don’t you have something else to be concerned about?” He asked, narrowing his eyes.

Once more, Aphrodite laughed. He knew it was supposed to make him happy and relaxed, but he was starting to associate it with meddlesome mothers who were too comforted by their own immortality. 

“My purpose is for things like this. Two long time friends finally confronting their feelings? It’s a classic. People write fanfic about these sorts of things. Besides, he is my son. And when my son is praying to me, then I make it my concern.” She pushed a lock of hair behind one ear. Her earrings didn’t match — one was a pink heart and the other was a silver arrow. Felix didn’t hate them. “I swear on the river Styx that I am not responsible for your feelings, Felix. Sylvain inherited a lot, though, from his mother.”

Felix snorted. “Sylvain’s good looks don’t mean anything to me.”

“I know that. It’s why I bother to speak with you.” Aphrodite looked out the window — there wasn’t actually anything outside to look at, just empty nothingness that made Felix’s stomach lurch. The interior of the car was already surreal enough. “He’s suffered more than most of my children. I’m not blind. I know that beauty can be a double edged sword. He, of all my children, has experienced this. You act harsh, but I know that you are more than just your anger.”

It might be the nicest thing a god had ever said to Felix, and the surprise must have been clear on his face because Aphrodite gave him a sad smile. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Felix argued, scowling. He couldn’t cross his arms while holding a glass, so he did his best to lean back and mimic a supervillain aesthetic. It didn’t fool Aphrodite, but she was kind enough not to completely call him out on it. 

“Many people do not understand what I see in your father—”

“Let me guess, he’s got a big dick.” Felix thought, for a second, that he had crossed a line and was actually going to get blasted into little pieces, but Aphrodite calmed not a moment later.

“He’s… Rough around the edges. But handsome, yes. Truly, the best husband would be one with Ares’ looks and Hephaestus’ mind. It’s just not a good look for a goddess of beauty to, well…”

“Have an ugly husband?” Felix wished he could stand and leave. As it was, the best he could do was swallow what was left of his champagne and reach for the door handle. “I’m done with this conversation. If you want Sylvain and me to figure things out, don’t talk to me again.” 

“Brat.” Aphrodite still waved her hand and the car stopped. The door sprung open, leading Felix into the nothingness that surrounded them. “I hope that I’m right about you. If you hurt my son, then not even your father can save you.”

“My father wouldn’t give a damn. Goodbye, Lady Aphrodite.” Felix stepped out of the car. He woke up covered in sweat, the taste of champagne still on his tongue.

#

Capture the Flag was serious business. Not only was it the best opportunity for most campers to actually fight something that wasn’t a straw dummy, but it was also big for bragging rights. Each camper wanted to prove they could do something more than sing at the campfire or make pretty bracelets in the craft house. They were descended from gods — might as well prove it. 

A huge cheer came from the Blue Team as Dimitri and Edelgard brought their flag into the dining pavilion where all the campers were gathered. A more accurate description might be "banner" because it was about ten feet long and looked like something that might stand at the end of a marathon.

Their banner seemed to be made out of a thin sheet of metal, shining even in the evening’s rays. There was an eagle clinging a lightning bolt in its talons on the front, wings spread in victorious flight. As the only two kids of Zeus, Dimitri and Edelgard soon disappeared into the forest to hide it. 

On the opposing side stood the Red Team. This time, the Apollo kids brought in the flag. Ignatz led two of his siblings in, his bow already strung and placed over one shoulder. The fabric of the flag seemed to be spun out of silk, catching any and all light and glowing brighter than the fading sun. On the front, a lyre and a bow were embroidered in silver thread. 

“Remember,” Byleth told the demigods as they all suited up, “No maiming, no killing, no leaving permanent scars. Prisoners may be disarmed but not bound or gagged. River is the halfway point. The flag must be clearly displayed with no more than two guards present. Seteth and I will act as referees and battle medics.” 

Felix was checking the straps on his armor when Sylvain walked over. He had a helmet under one arm and his lance carefully cradled in his free hand. 

“Hey, no fraternizing with the enemy,” one of Felix’s brothers teased. Sylvain winked at him.

“Fraternizing is what I do best,” he replied, before looking at Felix. “You ready for the game?” 

“I won’t go easy on you,” Felix warned. Sylvain waved a hand, glancing over to where Annette and Ashe were both getting ready. They were both on the Red Team, so their armor had red accents. In contrast, Felix’s had blue. “I don’t go easy on anyone just because they’re my friend. This is a fight and you’re going to get one.” 

“Still,” Sylvain drawled, “I think you’re counting us out too fast, Fe. Didn’t you hear — Claude’s been working on this something special.” 

The guy in question might have been an undetermined, but Felix would eat his sword if there wasn’t some powerful divine blood in his blood. He currently was talking shop with Lorenz and Hilda, though he kept glancing at the Blue Team as if he were worried about them overhearing. In only light armor, he traded protection for nimbleness. Felix had been on the sharp end of Claude’s arrows too many times to discount him. 

“If you win, it’ll be because of some underhand trick. Not because you’re better at fighting,” Felix conceded. “Now fuck off. I’ve still got things to prep.” He reached for his sword, though he didn’t need to — Sylvain held his hands up and backed off, that infuriating smirk still on his face. 

“See you in the forest.” 

Felix really didn’t like the sound of that, but he covered up his apprehension with a huff. He wasn’t completely lying — his stupid shield might be a useful magical item, but like most gifts from the gods it came at a price. He pulled his dagger from his side and sliced open his left pinkie. 

“I dedicate the blood of my sword and the sweat on my shield to the god of war,” Felix murmured. He pressed his finger to his shield and it began to glow. The sacrifice had been accepted. 

Some of the other campers watched, though most were used to it by now. His own siblings were mostly jealous. Again, normal Cabin Five things. 

“Come on,” Ingrid shouted over the clamor of the campers. “Blue Team, let’s go!” Without further ado, the Blue Team was marching into the forest.

Felix’s job was simple. While the majority of his siblings went with Athena’s kids towards the south, he and Ingrid would go north to try to sneak their way to the flag. They didn’t exactly know where it was, but there were only so many good places to put it. The only disadvantage was that they couldn’t exactly be stealthy — there wasn't much worse for a stealth mission than a shield that glowed like a disco ball in a dark forest. 

So it was absolutely no surprise when they got close to the flag and a shout of alarm went out from the guards. Unfortunately for them, Raphael and Lorenz were the guards. 

“I’ve got Raphael,” Felix told Ingrid. She nodded, breaking away from him to engage Lorenz in melee. 

Felix ran through the trees towards Raphael. Despite being a large and generally well-natured guy, Raphael was fast enough to cut Felix off before he could even put eyes on the flag. Felix brought his sword up to parry Raphael’s own swing, ducking down before springing up with as much force as he could muster to try to force Raphael back. It felt like pushing against a brick wall. 

Raphael’s eyes gleamed behind his helmet. “Can’t let you go past here, sorry.”

“Then I’ll cut through!” Felix adjusted his hold on his sword, steadied the shield on his arm — it was a traditional Greek oplon, circular and heavy and identical to one that a Spartan would have used thousands of years ago — and charged. 

Raphael braced himself in the dirt. Behind him, Felix could hear Lorenz and Ingrid fighting, spears clashing with a telltale _clang_. He narrowed his eyes. Only a matter of time before backup arrived. He had to end this fast. 

His charge hit Raphael, an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object. Felix could feel his teeth rattle. His sword came up, slicing at Raphael’s side. The armor helped soften the blow, but Felix still cut through like tissue paper. Raphael hissed, stepping back to reassess the situation. His side was bleeding profusely. Not fatal or even life-threatening, but enough to make someone flinch. 

“That’s not a normal sword,” he commented.

“No shit,” Felix replied. “Drop your sword and I’ll consider that a surrender or next time this goes through your ribs.” 

“I’ve got Lorenz and eyes on the flag,” Ingrid shouted from a bit away. Raphael shrugged and dropped his sword. 

“No shame in losing to the best swordsman in the camp,” he said. Felix would be lying if he said that the praise, even from someone he barely knew, didn’t make him a little happy. 

Collecting Raphael’s sword, Felix met up with Ingrid, who had Lorenz’s spear in one hand. The other demigod was an undignified pouting mess on the ground, his armor banged-up. Felix whistled.

“What did you do to him?” He asked. 

“Don’t worry about it,” Ingrid said. She gestured towards the flag. “How do you suppose we get that?” 

The flag was following all of the rules. It was guarded by only two people and it was clearly on display. It was also entangled in a fine web that reminded Felix vaguely of spiders and, if Claude had anything to do with it, was almost certainly a trap. At least Claude had the decency to make it an obvious trap, which only made Felix more suspicious.

Felix eyed Lorenz and Raphael, both of whom were sitting by a tree seemingly perfectly content to watch how this played out. He had half a mind to try ordering one of them to fetch the flag, but he really didn't have any way of backing up that threat since he was expressly forbidden from maiming anyone. On the other hand, he didn't much fancy getting utterly embarrassed by a trap.

"Well, it can't be deadly because otherwise Claude could never get away with it," Felix reasoned. "I'm gonna grab it."

Ingrid stared at him. "Are you nuts?" She asked, voice rising. 

"Look, it's either we get the flag or we stand here arguing until they get our flag. How much trust do you have in Dedue's plant traps?" 

Ingrid frowned. Felix smirked. They got along better now, but Ingrid and Dedue would never be the best of friends. Too awkward. 

"I'll do it. My shield is stronger than anything you have," Felix pointed out. 

"I guess… just try not to get hurt too much." 

Felix snorted. He slowly made his way closer to the flag. Upon closer inspection, the thin lines covering it were more akin to pieces of silk, no discernible pattern as far as Felix could tell. He tried following the threads to where they were anchored, but that was a dead end — it looked like they were just there as decoration. Still, this close he could feel the magical energy rolling off in soft waves. 

There was nothing to it. He swallowed, made sure that his shield was at the ready, and picked up the flag. The thin webs evaporated under his touch like fine morning dew.

"Are you feeling okay?" Ingrid asked. She was half-hidden behind a tree, which didn't speak well for her confidence in Felix. He mentally ran through his checklist. Nothing hurt. Nothing felt weird at all. His arm hurt a bit from running into Raphael, but that was to be expected. 

Nope, whatever the trap was, it wasn't meant to harm. 

"I'm fine," Felix said. He started to head over to her, but he couldn't pick up his feet. He frowned and tugged on the flag. It moved freely in his grasp, the fabric fluttering in the wind, but his feet were now anchored to the ground with those same webs. "Fuck."

"Well, you aren't dead," Ingrid commented. She still approached him much as one would a scared pegasus, which he did not appreciate. "Can you move at all?" 

To prove a point, Felix flipped her off. Ingrid rolled her eyes.

"How mature."

"Help me out of this and we can fight over my maturity later," he said. 

"I wouldn't, if I were you," a voice called from deeper in the forest. " _Oratós_." 

Both Ingrid and Felix looked over simultaneously as Sylvain shimmered into existence. He waved, cocky smile on his face. The bastard didn't even have his lance raised, which is why Ingrid was able to leap at him and knock him to the ground in a few quick moves. 

"Ow," he said, as if getting his ass kicked was anything new. 

"Tell us how to end the spell," Ingrid commanded.

"I can't," Sylvain replied. "Don't know how."

"Bullshit," Felix called over, wishing that he could throw his sword with any reliable accuracy, if just to show Sylvain what was what. "You know more magic than the rest of us." 

"Ask Lorenz or Raphael — they were actually here when Claude set it," Sylvain said. 

"I don't know magic!" Raphael shouted back.

"I won’t help you either,” Lorenz added. Felix resisted the urge to bash his head into his own shield. 

The group all fell silent as a ruckus broke out a bit away — it was hard to tell what was happening, but Felix could hear the resonating _boom_ of thunder and felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up. Dimitri or Edelgard? Did it matter? It was only a matter of time before the match was over one way or another. 

“This is breaking the rules,” Ingrid argued. “You can’t restrain anyone.” 

“I’m not doing anything,” Sylvain replied. “Felix got himself in this mess.”

Felix glared at him. “I am going to gut you like a fish, Gautier.”

“ _That_ is against the rules,” Sylvain responded. He grinned up at Ingrid. “Now, will you let me stand up or am I going to have to wash dirt out of my hair?” 

Ingrid looked like she wanted to curbstomp Sylvain into the ground, but she backed off enough for him to stand. He leaned against a tree, brushing leaves and debris off of his armor. Felix swallowed. 

They really were at an impasse. Since Byleth and Seteth would actually murder any camper who hurt someone else on purpose during Capture the Flag — and even Felix, who hated losing like it was death itself, wouldn’t actually harm someone too bad — Sylvain had nothing to worry about. Ingrid could kick his ass or threaten him all night, but if Felix couldn’t move with the flag then there was no point. 

“Oh we’re stupid,” Ingrid suddenly said. “Felix, give me the flag.” 

Sylvain cackled. Ingrid glared at him. 

“Don’t mind me,” Sylvain said. “I just want to see this.” 

“It’s not going to work,” Felix told Ingrid as she walked over.

“Just give me the stupid flag.” The bundle of fabric was a bit bulky, but Felix was able to hand it over. 

Ingrid tried walking off. She couldn’t lift her feet. Neither could Felix. Sylvain broke into more laughter. Raphael joined in, a deep bellow that danced on Felix’s last remaining nerve. Felix gave up and hit his head against his shield. It didn’t actually make him feel better, but it was all he could do. 

“So, I think that’s a victory for the Red Team. Good game — Lorenz, Raph, you two wanna go tell Claude?” Sylvain suggested. 

“Sure thing! Come on, Lorenz,” Raphael replied joyously. He pat Sylvain on the back, the blow almost knocking Sylvain over. Within moments, it was just the three friends in the immediate area. 

No one spoke.

“See any good movies recently?” 

“If you say anything else, I will cut your tongue out,” Felix threatened. Sylvain mimed zipping his lips. More time passed. Felix glared at Ingrid. 

“You cannot blame me for this,” she told him. “I knew it was a trap! I told you not to do it.” 

Felix couldn’t argue with that, so he didn’t. Instead, he looked at Sylvain. The bastard had the audacity to give him a little wave.

“Hey. You doing anything after this?” 

_Bathing in the blood from your corpse,_ Felix thought. He counted to ten and breathed out. 

“Sylvain, I’ll make you a deal.” 

“Oh?” Sylvain’s eyes went wide before he looked away. “Better be a good one. We’ve only got a few more minutes before we’ve got your flag.”

Felix prayed that Ingrid wouldn’t hold this over his head. “If I kiss you, will you get us out of this trap?” 

Literal crickets. The forest might have been stocked with monsters, but it still had normal wildlife too. Felix was ready to take it back and return to threatening Sylvain’s life when Sylvain shrugged. 

“A kiss from a handsome man? Hm…” Sylvain nodded, pushing away from the tree and walking over. “Only if you’re certain.” He had a teasing tone, but his expression was deadly serious. Ingrid sighed loudly. 

Before he could think about it too much, Felix grabbed Sylvain by the shoulder and pressed their lips together. Felix couldn’t stand on the tips of his toes, so he had to haul Sylvain down to his level, though their height difference was not too bad. Sylvain actually held onto his hips, though it was hard to feel what with their armor. It was awkward, to be sure — Felix wasn’t quite sure what he was supposed to do with his hands so he just held onto Sylvain’s shoulders. 

Sylvain had his eyes closed but Felix kept searching the forest as if the rest of camp was going to burst out of the forest with cameras. Maybe he was too tense or two paranoid, but it wasn’t exactly what he thought a kiss would be like, especially not a first kiss. Sylvain was soft, even with his armor. Felix shivered when Sylvain hummed. He could feel that in his bones.

Sylvain shifted, moving one of his hands up, but Ingrid cleared her throat and loudly said, “I am right here!”

Felix could feel Sylvain chuckle against Felix, but he did pull back and grin at Ingrid. “What, you want to join us?” 

“You are within stabbing distance,” she reminded him. Sylvain snorted but didn’t look like he wanted to test his luck. He let go of Felix — and when had they gotten so close in the first place? — before snapping his fingers. The webbing disappeared and Felix was able to walk once more. 

He snatched one end of the flag from Ingrid. It was much easier for two of them to hold it together and they’d need to hustle to get across the river. Felix didn’t run off immediately. He held his sword out and pointed it at Sylvain. 

“I’ll be taking this now.” Felix nodded at Ingrid and, together, they took off into the forest. 

“I cannot believe you did that,” Ingrid said. “Was that your first kiss? Have you kissed anyone besides Sylvain?” 

Felix wasn’t going to answer that, though he was afraid the blush on his face gave away the truth. “If you tell anyone, I will maim you,” he settled for, though it was hard to be intimidating as they stumbled through the undergrowth. 

Ingrid’s laughter followed them through the trees. 

#

Felix was listening to Dimitri chat with Claude about how the match had gone. He was paraded around along with Ingrid as the victors of Blue Team, which was fun for the first five minutes and then got on Felix’s nerves. Usually he just left. Now, though, he felt the urge to listen to every conversation and make sure that there weren’t any… rumors about what had happened. 

He barely heard Ferdinand call his name, only really noticed the redhead when he slapped a hand on Felix’s back. 

“Good job!” Ferdinand said. “You got the flag with Ingrid, right?” 

Felix nodded. He glanced at where Ingrid was standing with her siblings. One of them said something and Ingrid laughed — it didn’t seem to be at his expense. The Blue Team was just in good spirits because they had won. No one knew about what had happened, how Felix had gotten the flag… 

“Nice. I was looking with Caspar and Hubert, but we couldn’t even find it.” Ferdinand waved to Claude and Dimitri. “I’m going to go make sure Hubert hasn’t terrified any of the first years. I’ll see you all around!” Without another word, Ferdinand walked off. 

“How _did_ you get out of the trap?” Claude asked, looking at Felix. “No offense, but we figured that you would get there and you aren’t very good at magic.” 

Felix would rather die than admit that he had convinced Sylvain to let him out by kissing him, so instead he just shrugged. “I have my own tricks,” he said. Claude regarded him for a moment before turning back to Dimitri. Suddenly making the decision that isolation was better than this, Felix muttered an excuse and headed out of the dining pavilion, which was where the campers had gathered after Capture the Flag. 

He had almost made it back to his cabin when he heard his name and someone run up — he didn’t have to look to know that it was Sylvain. The redhead threw an arm around Felix’s shoulders, grinning at him. There was a flush in his cheeks from the exertion.

“Hey, I was looking for you. Not the kind of guy to stay and bask in your spoils?” Sylvain asked. Felix pushed his arm off. Something flashed in Sylvain’s eyes. “I — are you mad about what happened? I didn’t think — if you felt like you had to—”

Felix glanced around. They were alone, but that wasn’t guaranteed to last if they just stood there. He grabbed Sylvain’s hand and pulled him behind the nearest cabin. It was Cabin Nine and the heat of the workshop making sweat instantly appear on Felix’s skin. Sylvain followed willingly, his smile fading once the two of them were relatively secluded. 

“I’m sorry,” Sylvain said before Felix could speak. “If you hated it so much—”

“Shut up,” Felix told him. “Who have you told?” 

Sylvain’s eyes widened. “No one! I wouldn’t — do you really think I’d do that?”

“All of your siblings love to brag about their conquests.” 

“You’ve never been — I would never consider you a conquest,” Sylvain protested. He frowned, eyebrows furrowing. “You’re my friend. I would never want you to think any less of yourself. Besides, I thought you were just messing with me.”

Now it was Felix’s turn to frown. “Why do you think that?”

Sylvain’s laugh was humorless. “You’ve made it very clear that you don’t care for me very much. I don’t know what I did, but it figures.”

The first urge Felix had was to punch Sylvain for being an idiot, but that wasn’t what normal people did. Instead he sighed and counted to ten. 

“Of course I care for you, you fool. You’re my friend.” Felix glanced towards where Cabin Five, big and red and blaring death metal, sat. It was an ugly thing — even he knew that, and he lived there — especially when compared to the soft and lovely Cabin Ten. “I — I’m sorry you thought I didn’t like you.”

Sylvain licked his lips. “So you don’t regret the kiss?” 

It was a final out. Felix found himself thankful, but he wasn’t interested. He shook his head. Sylvain breathed out a sigh of relief.

“Oh, thank the gods. Can I—”

Felix didn’t let him finish, kissing him again. This one was better than the first. Felix wasn’t carrying his sword and shield, for one, and they were at the same level. He felt a bit weird kissing behind Cabin Nine, considering his father and Sylvain’s mother, but then Sylvain placed a hand on the back of Felix’s neck to deepen the kiss and all thoughts flew out of his head. 

They broke apart when laughter reached them. Felix searched for the source, but it was just a few other campers heading back to their cabins. No one had spotted them. 

Sylvain traced a finger down Felix’s cheek and Felix almost jumped out of his skin.

“Sorry,” Sylvain murmured. “You’re just — I just think you’re beautiful.”

“Sweet words are meaningless,” Felix argued, but he didn’t put any heat behind it. “I didn’t expect it. Your touch.” 

“I’ll ask before I touch you.” Sylvain wasn’t asking for an answer and Felix didn’t have one. He hadn’t considered that an option. “I — This is probably obvious, but I like you a lot.”

“Good. I like you too.” Felix swallowed. He glared at his feet. His face was burning. “I’ve never done this before.”

Sylvain raised an eyebrow. Felix clarified, 

“Seeing someone. Dating. If you even want to date someone like me.” 

“Fe, you’re intelligent and a fantastic fighter and a great friend — not to mention you’re really attractive. Why would I not want to date you?” Sylvain asked. Felix rolled his eyes. 

“If I have to tell you, then you must be more of an idiot than I thought.” He ran a finger over the edge of his armor. He’d have to give it a polish before putting it back on its stand. Technically armor and arms were supposed to stay in the armory, but no one was stupid enough to try to separate an Ares kid from their weaponry. 

That was all the Ares cabin was known for. Point them at the enemy and let them loose. Don’t try anything fancy, don’t bother to give them any praise about anything other than fighting — nothing mattered. And, whatever you do, don’t get one of them mad. 

“I don’t think your anger is a weakness,” Sylvain said slowly. “I think that it’s just a sign of how much you care about things.”

No one had ever said that. Felix didn’t know how to reply. Sylvain smiled and reached out, hesitating until Felix nodded. Sylvain cradled his jaw in one hand, thumb swiping over Felix’s cheek. Felix couldn’t breathe and couldn’t think but, for once, it wasn’t because of anger. His heart beat quickly and he wondered if this was why everyone said Aphrodite was really the worst of the gods to turn against you.

“You’re thinking too hard,” Sylvain teased.

“Just trying to plan how I’m going to kill you if this is a joke to you,” Felix replied.

“Never.” Sylvain smiled his special smile. “Not with you.” 

Felix couldn’t reply to that, so he just nodded. They stood there together, listening to more campers come back. No one seemed to notice them or, if they did, no one commented. 

“May I ask you something?” Sylvain suddenly asked. Felix nodded again. “Did something happen over the fall? To make you push me away.” 

And how was Felix supposed to explain it? He had to try. Sylvain deserved that, at the very least.

“I spoke with your mother,” Felix confessed. Sylvain’s eyebrows shot up but he didn’t say anything. “She visited me in a dream. She said that she thought we were cute together, as if we were inevitable. I… didn’t take it well.” 

A bit of an understatement, but Felix didn’t want to dwell and Sylvain didn’t ask him to do so. Sylvain just frowned.

“Why would my mom talk to you?” The "And not me" went unsaid. Felix understood. 

“I don’t bother to guess at the motivations of gods.” He cleared his throat. “I didn’t know if there was magic involved or not. She swore that there wasn’t. At least, not her magic and I know you would never do that. You’re a bastard, but you’re not that much of a bastard.” 

“My charm is one hundred percent natural,” Sylvain agreed. He winked. Despite his better judgement, Felix blushed. He glared at Sylvain, but there was no fear in Sylvain’s cheeky grin. “Hey, Fe?”

“What?” 

“Will you go to the fireworks with me?” 

Felix let out a comically loud sigh. “If I must.”

Sylvain laughed. “You don’t have to sound so burdened by the threat of my company.” 

“I didn’t say that.” Felix glanced towards a huddle of campers who were rapidly approaching — from the moaning and complaining and random giggling, it was Sylvain’s siblings on their way home. “You should go join them before they wonder where you’ve gone.” Neither he nor Sylvain moved. 

“I’ll see you in the morning, right?” Sylvain asked. Felix nodded. “Can I kiss you good night?” Felix nodded. 

Sylvain’s lips were soft, his hands warm. Felix thought he smelled like vanilla, fresh and light. He knew that he was harsh and rough around the edges, that blood and iron lingered in his touch, but Sylvain didn’t seem to care. Sylvain _didn’t_ care. 

And if he didn’t then maybe, just maybe, Felix didn’t have to either.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on Tumblr [here](http://disasterfelixfraldarius.tumblr.com/) or [Twitter.](https://twitter.com/ashes8012)


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